"Hence, with the body, with the mind, masculine, feminine – these words are relevant, meaningful. But there is something beyond them both; there is something transcendental. That is your real core, your being. That being consists only of awareness, of witnessing, of watchfulness. It is pure consciousness.

"I am not talking here as a man; otherwise it is impossible to talk about women. I am talking as awareness. I have lived in the feminine body many times and I have lived in the masculine body many times, and I have witnessed all. I have seen all the houses, I have seen all the garments. What I am saying to you is the conclusion of many, many lives; it has not to do with only this life. This life is only a culmination of a long, long pilgrimage.

"So don't listen to me as a man or a woman; otherwise you will not be listening to me. Listen to me as awareness.

"Secondly, you ask, 'How do you know that God is a he?' God is neither he nor she. God simply means the totality of consciousness in existence. God simply means life eternal. Life expresses in two ways, man and woman. God is the unmanifest source of life; you cannot call him 'he,' you cannot call him 'she.' But because for centuries the word he has been used, I go on using it. You have to remember that I don't mean it.

"If you really want to go deeply into the phenomenon of God, then God does not exist at all – as a person. God is only a presence. In other words, there is no God but only godliness: a quality that pervades, permeates, the whole of existence; that is everywhere, in every leaf, in every dewdrop. It is a quality. Once you start thinking of God as a quality, your whole outlook on life, on religion, on love, will be totally different.

"Existence consists not of nouns but of verbs. Nouns are inventions of man and so are pronouns. Verbs are real. When you say 'a river' what do you mean? Have you ever seen a river as a noun? The river is always flowing, it is always a movement."